China urges USA to be ‘coolheaded’ in approach to North Korea

The remarks followed an unusually bellicose statement during a visit to Seoul on Friday, where following a visit to the demilitarised zone between South and North Korea, Mr Tillerson said “all options are on the table” including military, for dealing with the North’s nuclear threat.

At a press conference held after the ministerial meeting, Kishida said the two sides agreed to make their respective policies toward North Korea congruous, but did not refer to the details of what was explained by Tillerson about the us review.

During a visit to South Korea, he also said the United States was exploring a range of new diplomatic and economic measures.

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He said Washington does not want a military conflict, but if Pyongyang takes actions that threaten South Korean or U.S. forces it would be met with an “appropriate response”.

China’s Wang, meanwhile, proposed last week that North Korea suspend its nuclear and missile activities in return for the United States discontinuing its military exercises with South Korea.

Yi said there was a “fundamental consensus” regarding the nuclear issue in North Korea.

Mr Tillerson is using his trip to South Korea, Japan and later China to focus on finding a new approach to North Korea.

North Korea has conducted nuclear and missile tests in recent years, and says it is close to testing long-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads and reaching the US.

“Certainly, we do not want to – for things to get to a military conflict”. In a news conference with Tillerson and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday, the Korean peninsula was mentioned more than 40 times.

In a further sign of its frustration with Pyongyang, China last month banned imports of North Korean coal for the rest of the year, potentially depriving Kim’s regime of a key source of foreign currency. Key allies South Korea and Japan are already within range of North Korean missiles and have been subject to threats.

President Trump weighed in Friday by goading China over Twitter for not doing enough to help prevent its ally from “behaving very badly”. “We hope all parties, including our friends from the United States, could size up the situation in a coolheaded and comprehensive fashion, and arrive at a wise decision”, he said.

Washington insists THAAD is a defensive system deployed to protect the South and US bases, but China fears its advanced radar system undermines China’s nuclear deterrent.

Tillerson also said that any talks on North Korea could only take place after it began the process of unwinding the weapons programmes. Previous North Korean provocations have been attempts to prod negotiations or intimidate South Korea.

The US has been pressing China to do more to rein in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes, including imposing tougher sanctions on North Korea.